January 1st — Something Waiting in the Grove

Dear Diary,

I woke up while it was still quiet-dark, and I don’t know how to explain it except that something pulled at me to go to the old garage in the grove. Not like a loud voice—more like a steady tug in my heart, the way you suddenly remember something important and can’t rest until you go and see.

I bundled up and slipped outside. The cold woke me up fast. The grove was all white and hushed, and the branches were frosted like they had been dipped in sugar. The garage was almost out of sight, tucked back where you have to know it’s there.

Inside, hanging right where it always hangs, was that old calendar page—faded, worn, and a little torn around the edges. It shows Baby Jesus with angels leaning close, and the dates are printed beneath, but some of the ink has gone pale. It is just paper, and it has never changed.

But this morning it felt like something was waiting for me there.

I looked at the calendar and my heart began to “see” more than my eyes were seeing. For a moment it was as if God allowed that worn old picture to become part of the real scene—like the poor little garage was a shelter, and the gentle faces were truly near. Not in a way I could prove—just in the quiet way a gift is given to a tender heart.

Then I thought of the meditation for today, and how Jesus shed His Precious Blood even at the beginning—how love started right away for Him. And when I remembered what was ahead of Him later, my eyes filled up and I cried right there in the grove where nobody could see me.

I came back inside still feeling it. The Spiritual Bouquet kept repeating in my mind like a little bell: “Today I will begin.”I want to begin this year by giving Jesus my first moments, not my leftovers, and by letting Him cut away what is vain or proud in me.

Evening Prayer

O dear Jesus, thank You for loving me first, and for beginning my salvation at the very beginning of Your life. Please help me begin this new year with true love and steady obedience. Remove what is proud, impatient, or lazy in me, and make me faithful in little duties. Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus, keep me close to Your Son. Amen.

Love, Kathy.